A Slash Across Layered Deposits At Mars’ North Pole

Here, a straight-line feature cuts across many layers, seemingly changing their brightness and presumably indicating a major change in the layer properties.

However, this streak is superficial. Due to wind processes, superficial frost has been removed or dust deposited on one side of the streak, but not on the other. At full HiRISE scale, texture doesn’t change when crossing the line.

The effects are dramatic when looking at the whole image—even some layers that are brighter than their neighbors on one side are darker on the other, likely because of how the local slope and roughness interact with the wind.

As a result, it is very difficult to distinguish the layer properties from their brightness in this environment.

Astrobiology, astrogeology,